Vladimir Putin’s party wins elections in Russia | He ratified the majority in the Duma, with more than two-thirds

Amid complaints of alleged fraud and with an opposition sector excluded from parliamentary elections, the party United russia, who responds to President Vladimir Putin, won yesterday’s elections and ratified the majority of the Duma (Parliament), with more than two thirds of the camera.

After three days of voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, 45% of those registered went to the polls. And the count of 95 percent of polling stations indicated that the ruling party won 49.6 percent of the vote, before Communist Party (PC), who scored 19.2.

They are followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDR) led by ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovski (7.47); the Fair Russia Social Democrats (7.42) and the New New People’s Party (5.39%), a project many see as a Kremlin plan to split the protest vote.

Despite the victory, the percentage of votes obtained by the ruling party is lower than that of the last legislative elections of 2016, where it had collected 54.2 percent of the vote and 334 deputies.

This time the feast of Putin won 315 seats out of a total of 450 in the lower house, which also serves to activate reforms that require more than two-thirds, such as reforms without the need for alliances with other political forces and even constitutional reform.

Complaints of fraud in Russia

What marred the official victory were the long denunciations of suspected fraud presented by the PC in different parts of the country, from the European part to Siberia and the Far East.

Also, several photographs and videos disseminated in the media and on social networks They showed suspected irregularities, such as the filling of ballot boxes and obstacles to the work of observers.

“These are the elections of electronic fraud”Ivan Zhdanov, a comrade of Navalni in exile, said on Twitter. The specialist NGO Golos had received more than 4,950 complaints about possible electoral irregularities and considered the drop in the “level of transparency” and “clarity of the electoral system” as “proof”.

However, the president of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Ela Pamfílova, rejected these accusations and praised the “transparency” of the elections, and the Home Office confirmed that, throughout the three polling days, there were no irregularities likely to have an impact on the end result.

They were joined by Andrei Turchak, one of the main leaders of the government of United Russia, who ensured that the election was “clear and clean”. And they, the presidential spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, who underlined the “probity” of the competition.

Persecution of opponents

The other point for which the Russian ruling party is questioned is the alleged persecution of opponents, whose parties were excluded from these elections, and the arrest of some leaders. Particularly Alexei Navalni, the main opponent who denounced massive fraud.

The European Union denounced a climate of intimidation approaching the elections and regretted the absence of independent election observers.

Navalni supporters had asked to do “a smart vote” and bet on the candidates best placed to prevent the election of representatives of Putin’s party. In most cases, they were Communists.

As Russian electoral authorities pressured the IT giants and the elections began on Friday, Apple and Google they removed the “smart vote” app from Navalni. Close to this opposition leader They accuse Google and Apple of “giving in to the Kremlin’s blackmail”.

Putin’s approval

Even if Putin, 68, continues to have a good level of popularity, United Russia has lost its support for declining living conditions after years of economic stagnation, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“For the president, the main thing was competitive, open and fair elections, and in that sense, we are evaluating the electoral process in a very, very positive way, ”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin has yet to vote on the elections, but this should be the case during the telematic meeting scheduled today with Pamfílova, from the CEC.